Directed by Martin Scorsese, No Direction Home: Bob Dylan is a documentary film about the life and career of Bob Dylan from his early life and impact on popular culture until the 1966 motorcycle accident that would nearly kill him and put him into a temporary retirement. The film would feature footage of Dylan in those times including archival interviews with Dylan talking about those events as well as a look into the folk music scene of the times. The result is an engrossing and evocative film from Martin Scorsese.
In the 1960s during a period of social change, folk music was considered the soundtrack to express these changes during the Civil Rights movement as well as with what was happening politically in those times. The biggest voice of that music scene was Bob Dylan whose songs would be covered by many in the world of folk, pop, and rock music as he was seen as the voice of a generation whether he liked it or not. The film is about Dylan’s time in the spotlight until a motorcycle accident in July of 1966 put him into seclusion where he rarely made public appearances for eight years until he toured again in 1974 with the Band. Dylan is interviewed from a 2000 conversation with his manager Jeff Rosen about these events as Rosen allowed the interview to be used in the film as many of the interviews with individuals involved such as Allen Ginsberg, Peter Yarrow, Pete Seeger, Mavis Staples, Al Kooper, Joan Baez, Bob Neuwirth, filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker, and Dylan’s former girlfriend from the early 1960s in Suze Rotolo are dated as far back as the mid-1990s.
Using a lot of archival footage including material and outtakes from documentary films such as D.A. Pennebaker’s Dont Look Back and Murray Lerner’s Festival plus the rarely-seen documentary about Dylan’s 1966 tour in the film Eat the Document. Martin Scorsese would create a narrative that play into Dylan’s early life and his ascent into stardom that is inter-cut with footage from the 1966 tour in Europe where he is getting a polarized reaction for playing rock n’ roll. Scorsese play into not just Dylan’s early life living in a small town of Hibbing, Minnesota where it was an ordinary town yet he would discover different kinds of music late at night from the early ideas of rock n’ roll, blues, folk, and country music. Dylan also talked about the folk music scene of the early 1960s where it wasn’t about people getting famous but rather create a community of art and music without any kind of complications and create some kind of commentary about what is happening in America.
Through the interviews with Baez, Staples, Neuwirth, and several others that was shot by several cinematographers led by Mustapha Barat with contributions from Maryse Alberti and Ellen Kuras, Scorsese manages to get an idea of how Dylan coped with his fame as Scorsese would do an audio re-enactment of the 1963 Emergency Civil Liberties Committee ceremony where Dylan received the Tom Paine award as it was a moment that had Dylan display his discomfort of being a voice for any kind of movement. With the help of sound editor Philip Stockton, Scorsese would use that moment to play into a moment that would mark a change in Dylan from being this folk singer into wanting to be something else. Even as Baez and Rotolo discuss how their relationship with Dylan would change and fall apart in that time of his growing fame as it would force him to do other things while Baez would continue to create protest music as a way to speak about what is going on.
With the help of editor David Tedeschi, Scorsese would compile various concert footage including rare footage from Dylan’s 1966 tour that includes the infamous show at the Manchester Free Trade Hall where a fan screamed “Judas” at him for betraying the folk movement. It all play into Dylan’s refusal to be labeled for other people while he would admit that he was arrogant into the way he treated himself as a major figure. Even as the tour would serve as the peak of his public persona as this unlikely spokesman of a generation who was becoming increasingly difficult and didn’t care about what his audience thought.
No Direction Home: Bob Dylan is a sensational film from Martin Scorsese. It’s a sprawling documentary film in a near-4 hour running time that chronicles Dylan at his most famous as well as his most controversial with the man getting the chance to talk about that period. Even as it showcases rare footage and insight into the period of the times including Dylan’s early background. In the end, No Direction Home: Bob Dylan is a spectacular film from Martin Scorsese.
Related: Dont Look Back - I'm Not There - Trouble No More
Martin Scorsese Films: (Who’s That Knocking on My Door?) – (Street Scenes) – Boxcar Bertha – (Mean Streets) – Italianamerican – Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore - Taxi Driver - New York, New York – American Boy: A Profile of Steven Prince - (The Last Waltz) – Raging Bull - The King of Comedy - After Hours - The Color of Money - The Last Temptation of Christ - New York Stories-Life Lessons - Goodfellas – Cape Fear (1991 film) - The Age of Innocence - (A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies) – (Casino) – (Kundun) – (My Voyage to Italy) – Bringing Out the Dead - (The Blues-Feel Like Going Home) – Gangs of New York - (The Aviator) – The Departed - Shine a Light - Shutter Island - (A Letter to Elia) – (Public Speaking) - George Harrison: Living in the Material World - Hugo - The Wolf of Wall Street - (The Fifty Year Argument) – The Silence - (The Irishman (2018 film)) - Killers of the Flower Moon - (An Afternoon with SCTV)
© thevoid99 2018
Written, shot, edited, and directed by D.A. Pennebaker, Dont Look Back is a documentary film that chronicles Bob Dylan’s 1965 tour of Britain which would be the last tour he would do playing solely acoustic music before going electric. The film showcases the folk artist struggling with fame as well as questions about his authenticity as an artist as it shown in a raw, black-and-white style. The result is an engrossing and fascinating film from D.A. Pennebaker.
It’s the spring of 1965 in Britain as Bob Dylan is doing an eight-day tour as he’s accompanied by an entourage that include folk singer/then-girlfriend Joan Baez, road manager/friend Bob Neuwirth, and manager Albert Grossman. Joining his former Animals keyboardist Alan Price who had just left the band as they chat about music and ideas while Dylan is doing interviews with the press who are questioning about what his songs mean and all sorts of idiotic questions. It does play into Dylan’s disdain towards his growing fame just as he is changing his look that would include footage of him singing protest songs in Mississippi that is filmed by Ed Emshwiller that shows a young Dylan two years before being the prince of the folk music scene. The Dylan during this tour of Britain is often seen wearing sunglasses and black-leather shoes as well as being a bit more confrontational.
Much of D.A. Pennebaker’s direction is loose in the fact that he captures all of the chaos that goes on backstage, at a hotel room, whenever Dylan is being interviewed, and when he’s on the road riding on a train to a show. Even as there’s scenes that has Joan Baez singing a couple of songs in a hotel room while Dylan is typing something or Dylan watching Donovan perform in a hotel room following an argument over who threw glass on the floor. Pennebaker would often shoot something just as it is happening while he also films a scene of Grossman doing a deal to show how much he cared for Dylan during that time as they would part ways five years later. The usage of raw black-and-white film would give the film a stylistic look while Pennebaker’s editing also has style in the way he would shoot some of the performances with the usage of dissolves and jump-cuts in some of the scenes of Dylan being interviewed.
The performances are straightforward in its presentation with the climax being the shows Dylan played at the Royal Albert Hall in London as it would be this moment that would show Dylan ready to move on from playing folk music and get ready to take a step into a new path. The film’s opening scene is a music video for Subterranean Homesick Blues that has Dylan holding cue cards featuring the lyrics while Allen Ginsberg is in the background talking to someone as it play into this new phase that Dylan was to embark. Even if Pennebaker was unafraid to show Dylan in a bad light such as the scene of him confronting someone over broken glass or being mean to a journalist where it does show Dylan being arrogant in some ways as a front in how he tries to deal with this growing sense of stardom. The sound work of Jones Alk with concert sound by J. Robert Van Dyke does play into the way things sound with Van Dyke providing a nice approach to how Dylan sounded live in his performances.
Dont Look Back is a phenomenal film from D.A. Pennebaker. It’s a documentary that showcases a man’s ascent to stardom as well as coping with this stardom while on tour at a turning point in his career. It’s a film that fans of Bob Dylan must see as it’s also a film that does play into the looseness and style of documentary that captures this air of realism that is unfolding during the course of a tour as it is happening. In the end, Dont Look Back is a tremendous film from D.A. Pennebaker.
Related: Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars - No Direction Home - I'm Not There - Trouble No More
© thevoid99 2018
Directed, co-shot, and co-edited by Michael Wadleigh, Woodstock is a documentary-concert film that chronicles the Woodstock Music and Arts Festival at Bethel, New York from August 15 to 18 in the year of 1969. Featuring an array of performances from acts such as Jimi Hendrix, the Who, Janis Joplin, Joe Cocker, Sly and the Family Stone, Jefferson Airplane, and many others. The film also takes a look at scenes around the festival including the small town of Bethel whose residents deal with hippies who are coming to their small town to attend a big music festival. The result is an absolutely exhilarating and rapturous concert documentaries ever made.
On August 15-18 in the small town of Bethel in upstate New York, three days of peace, love, and music commenced where nearly half-a-million people attended for a good time where they listened to a lot of music. In the course of three days, the concert would be considered a massive event as director Michael Wadleigh would join a crew of cameramen and capture not just the concert itself but the events in between where he would talk to the people at the show as well as the locals in Bethel. There, Wadleigh would see if there is a sense of culture clash but saw something much richer where the locals reacted very well to the young kids and also helped them with food and medical supplies. Even the authorities proved to not be a hassle and help out where for a little while, a sense of utopia was created in a farm though not everyone was happy such as a cranky neighbor angry over his cows not being milked.
Along with a few incidents where a couple of people died at the festival where one from a heroin overdose and someone else being run over by a tractor. Wadleigh was able to capture a sense of spirit as well as a community just coming together to help each other out and have a good time. Even as there are those that come to the festival wanting to see these acts and listen to the music where they’re also trying to find themselves. Some of which aren’t hippies but those who are curious about what this festival is about yet there are those who realize that it isn’t for everyone. Amidst all of this excitement for music, free love, nude bathing, and such, there are these little moments in the film that are unique that includes people calling on payphones to talk to their parents and just tell them their fine despite these reports from the press that it is a disaster area.
Then there’s the performances as the standouts from the likes of Joe Cocker, the Who, Jimi Hendrix, Santana, Richie Havens, Sly & the Family Stone, Janis Joplin, and Crosby, Stills, & Nash are presented with a sense of enthusiasm and power. Other performances in the film from Canned Heat, John Sebastian of the Lovin’ Spoonfuls, Joan Baez, Ten Years After, Country Joe & the Fish, Arlo Guthrie, and the Jefferson Airplane also provide some unique moments with Guthrie having a very funny moment in the film where he tells the audience that New York thruway is closed and he was rapping to the fuzz. Another funny moment involves Crosby, Stills, & Nash where they revealed that this is their second performance and they’re scared shitless. Yet, of all the groups that appear in the film, the rock n’ roll revival group Sha-Na-Na is one of the oddest moments in the film as they’re playing old-school 1950s rock in a cover of At the Hop as they come off as the most square group in the line-up but somehow managed to win the audience over.
With the aid of co-cinematographers Malcolm Hart, Don Lenzer, Michael Margetts, David Myers, Richard Pearce, and Alfred Wertheimer, Wadleigh would shoot as much footage as he could of the performances and activities outside of the show including some behind the scenes footage where one of its organizers in Michael Lang tries to make sure the performers are there and very little helicopters would fly over the festival. Much of it is presented in a loose form with hand-held cameras along with stylistic reverse shots and compositions where Wadleigh would also play with the numerous aspect ratios in the film to create something is larger than life. Helping him with the change in aspect ratios and multiple point-of-view shots in the editing would include co-editors Martin Scorsese, Thelma Schoonmaker, Stan Warnow, Yeu-Bun Lee, and Jere Huggins. The editing would feature multiple split-screen screens to play into not just the music but also the reaction from the audience and the musicians themselves towards the music.
The sound work of Dan Wallin and L.A. Johnson, with additional work by Greg P. Russell and George Groves for the 1994 director’s cut edition, would help create a soundtrack that captures the liveliness of the performances and the reaction of the audience itself. The 1994 director’s cut film which features 40 additional minutes of material including full performance from Canned Heat, Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, and a couple of songs from Jimi Hendrix as well as a few extended interview clips do give the film more of what the festival was about. Even as it also showcases a bit of melancholia of those that had passed on as both Hendrix and Joplin would die in the year of the film’s original’s release in 1970. Overall, Wadleigh creates a film that is just mesmerizing in not just the music but in the event itself.
Woodstock is a spectacular film from Michael Wadleigh. It’s not just one of the definitive documentary concert films but it’s a film that captures an experience that will never be replicated. Especially at a moment in during one of the most tense periods in American history where for three days. Peace and love was able to coexist in small town in upstate New York no matter how old they were or what generation they’re from. In the end, Woodstock is a tremendous film from Michael Wadleigh.
© thevoid99 2016
